Corn Season - Chowder Time

I love a good corn chowder--thick and full of veggies. The trick is to use fresh corn and a high quality pepper jack cheese.

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This recipe tastes amazing the night-of, and even better the next day. I make mine fairly thick, but you can thin it with extra stock or milk. My husband claims this is actually a bell pepper soup; he's not a fan of bell peppers, but I could eat mouthfuls of corn and peppers any day. Yum!

The soup recipe comes from Pioneer Woman. I don't often use bacon with this recipe, since I don't usually have it stocked in my fridge. I think it definitely adds a depth of flavor, but isn't necessary. However, fresh corn is a must! I often only have heavy cream and milk in my fridge, so I mix the two instead of using half-and-half. Lastly, I serve the chowder with some garlic naan that I've sliced and toasted instead of using a bread bowl.

The most important step to a great chowder is making sure you SLOWLY add in the chicken stock/broth. Once the flour has coated everything and cooked for a minute or two, add in only a little bit of broth. Continue to do so until you've created a thick paste called a roux. This will be the foundation to a thick and creamy chowder instead of a runny soup.

With a little bit of bread to dip in, this felt like a complete meal and was a great weeknight addition (although it definitely tastes better reheated the next day!) That’s it. One plate. One meal.

Chowder:

• Onion

• Bacon (optional)

• Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers

• 5 ears of fresh corn

• Pepperjack cheese

• Green onions

• Naan bread